Bringing home bunny!!

[HappyHollandDays]

Hey all! So I will be bringing home my bun sometime within the next week  and I was wondering what tips you have for a first time bun mom in those first few days/ the car ride home. I live around an hour to an hour and a half away from the breeder and want to know what will make the ride easier for my new baby! Any tips on bunny care are appreciated! 

I will be housing him in a dog crate turned bunny haven. Its the giant kind meant for Great Danes and Mastiffs (48xsomething) with two doors and a metal liner so chewing on plastic won’t be an issue! I plan on lining the bottom with fleece, unless he is a chewer in which case I’ll figure something out! I plan on feeding him the Oxbow blend for young rabbits, as well as oxbow hay.I know there are manyother things i need (i have a list) but wondered mostly if anyone had any tips for me on care/ daily routine! 

I am so excited to meet my little Rumple!!

[HerculesandMolasses]

Clean the litterbox everyday or two and don’t use clumping or clay litter. Make sure he has willow, apple, untreated pine, or aspen chews and clip his nails every month. Also, don’t pick them up by their ears.

[Shannon]

Happy Holland Days. congrats on your new bunny!
I would caution against the dog crate at first.. Larger dog crates tend to have larger slats you would be surprised what a full grown bunny can fit through let alone a big one. ( We used to keep our rex bunnies in one when I was a kid and we had to put chicken wire all around it to keep them in little rascals!). Also with a new untrained rabbit if you line the entire cage bottom with fabric it will probably be a lot of clean up. We used a drop through cage until we were fully trained.

As for daily care routine this is what we did when goose was a baby

8:00 AM let him out to run in a closed off area and refill his hay/water dishes
10:00 AM We would close him back up into his cage.

Then around 4:00 I would open the cage up again and let him out until we went to bed (again in a closed off area)

The first 24 hours we brought him we left him alone in his cage (it was hard!)
Goose also loves cat play balls and we bought dangle toys. We had a lot of boxes too. Goose loves the challenge of jumping them.

[Shannon]

Happy Holland Days. congrats on your new bunny!
I would caution against the dog crate at first.. Larger dog crates tend to have larger slats you would be surprised what a full grown bunny can fit through let alone a big one. ( We used to keep our rex bunnies in one when I was a kid and we had to put chicken wire all around it to keep them in little rascals!). Also with a new untrained rabbit if you line the entire cage bottom with fabric it will probably be a lot of clean up. We used a drop through cage until we were fully trained.

As for daily care routine this is what we did when goose was a baby

8:00 AM let him out to run in a closed off area and refill his hay/water dishes
10:00 AM We would close him back up into his cage.

Then around 4:00 I would open the cage up again and let him out until we went to bed (again in a closed off area)

The first 24 hours we brought him we left him alone in his cage (it was hard!)
Goose also loves cat play balls and we bought dangle toys. We had a lot of boxes too. Goose loves the challenge of jumping them.

[BarbaraC]

Congrats on your new bunny! For such a long drive you will want to make sure he is comfortable. I woukd recommend put his litter box with lots of hay in his carrier. This will keep him comfortable but also give him something to munch on. He may not eat during the drive but just in case.

If you can have someone go with you one person can sit with the bunny and try to keep him calm.

When you get him home give him time and space to get acclimated. I know how exciting it is to have a new bunny and you just want to show him how much you love him but you have to earn his trust. Let him come to you. Just sit in his pen and let him get used to you.

For litter I love the hardwood stove pellets topped with hay. Also, itoften recommended to change your litter every 2-3 days. Bunnies eat the most tender hay on the first day but it is the tougher stuff that really wears down their teeth.

Good luck with your new bunny and I’d love to see pics when you get him home.

[HappyHollandDays]

Thanks everyone! I’m so very excited! Shannon- I was worried about the slats too in the dog crate. I was planning on having to get nic grids anyways to make a second story, and was going to overlap to get rid of big gaps! BarbaraC thanks for the car ride home tips. I’ve been worried about it. I’m going to try and convince my roommate to come with me. As for pictures, the breeder sent me one, and I checked the rules and am pretty sure I’m allowed to post it. So look in the August pictures!

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